Ay Ay Ay, of the Kinky Negress

Ay ay ay, that I am kinky and pure black; 
Kinkiness in my hair, uncivility on my lips; 
and my flat nose turns mozambique. 

Negress of intact hue, I cry and laugh 
the vibration of being a black statue; 
a chunk of night where my white 
teeth sparkle; 
to be a black spike 
that gets entwined to the black 
and twists in the black nest 
wherein the black crow lies. 
Black chunk of black in which I sculpt myself. 
Ay ay ay, that my statue is all black. 

I am told that my grandfather was the slave for whom the master gave thirty coins. 
Ay ay ay, that the slave was my grandfather 
it is my sorrow, it is my sorrow. 
If he would have been the master, 
it would be my shame; 
for in men, just like in nations, 
to be the servant means to have no rights, 
to be the master means to have no conscience. 

Ay ay ay, that sins of the white king 
be washed away in forgiveness by the black queen. 

Ay ay ay, that the race escapes from me 
and towards the white race hums and flies 
to sink in its clear water; 
or it may be that the white one will darken in the black. 

Ay ay ay, that my black race escapes 
and with the white one runs to become dark; 
to become the one of the future 
brotherhood of America! 


-  Julis De Burgos